Today was not the best day for dad.  Mary updated this morning about his ventilator having to be put back in.  It was really hard to see Dad struggling to get his breath this morning.  So although we wish he was strong enough to go without it, I am grateful to have it back in to ease that struggle for him.  Tomorrow they are going to be doing a tracheotomy.  This will allow them to hook up the ventilator through that, while allowing his vocal cords to heal so he will be able to communicate.  This will also allow him to be moved easier when they decide it is okay for him to get up or move about. He has been having a chest x-ray each morning. His lungs didn't look as good since they took him off ventilator. They were compressed this morning. They hope that now he is back on ventilator his lungs will bounce back and look better tomorrow. The nurse tonight said they marked down on his chart that he has pneumonia but it is treatable.  

Dr. Granger, the head doctor of the trauma team on Dad's case, indicated that the CSF drain is not draining as well as it could be, which may indicate a clog (they may need to replace it). Also, the leak in his nose is subsiding (a good thing). The drainage will be how they ultimately tell if the leak has stopped. It also could be that it is draining down his throat but they are not sure at this point. They will wait to schedule the facial surgery until they know whether or not a surgery will need to be performed to repair the CSF leak. If needed, they will do both at the same time.  Dr. Leyngold, the facial surgeon, also said they are waiting for him to be more stable to do the facial surgery.  The surgery is easier if it happens in the first two weeks but he can still do it a month or more after the injury. 

While Dr. Leyngold was checking him, he asked dad to open his eyes, close both eyes tight and raise his eyebrows.  He was able to do it on the left side but not the right side at all.  He said there was probably damage to the nerve on the right eyelid but this often heals on its own – could take months.  If it doesn’t after several months he may be able to perform surgery to correct.  There could also be some vision loss in the right eye, as the pupil did not respond to light.   The lining around the right eye was drying out due to the swelling, so he put some ointment on it and sewed part of the right eyelid shut.  He will remove it sometime next week.

Dad has a low grade fever, about 101, that they are watching. They are curious if he may have another infection hiding somewhere, but don't know where it could be. They took a sample of sputum from his lungs to run a culture on. It will take a couple of days before they get those results. 

On a side note: the P.A. Student came & talked to us & said they are talking about Dad a lot and even when they aren't here with him, there are 3 people in a room looking over his labs, watching his monitors, and talking about him. It's good to know he's being watched over.  One day at a time, we will get through this. Thanks for all your love and support.  It really means a lot to our whole family.